Caltech Chess Club
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A list of articles in which the Caltech Chess Club has appeared can be found here

Fourth Annual Prefrosh Simul

On April 21, 2006, from 4-6 PM, Club President and FIDE Master Patrick Hummel gave a simultaneous exhibition at prefrosh weekend club fair. He played 32 games (but no more than 20 at the same time) and won every one of them. There were a lot of spectators, and everybody had a good time.

Caltech Finishes Second in 2006 National Amateur Team Chess Championship

On Sunday, April 2, Caltech nearly won the National Amateur Team Chess Championship for the third time in four years. Caltech earned the right to compete in the national championship by winning the 2006 US Amateur Team West Chess Championship in February. The knockout-style national championship was held on the Internet Chess Club.

In the semifinals, Caltech easily defeated the winners of the Midwest’s regional championship, while the East defeated the South to lead to an East-West showdown for the national championship. The final match seemed like it was all going Caltech's way. Yanayt earned a solid draw with white on board 2, and Hummel trounced his lower rated opponent on board 1 to give Caltech the lead. But though Caltech had winning positions on both boards 3 and 4, miraculous efforts by the East's players, and some missed opportunities by Caltech's, turned an almost certain victory into a shocking 2.5-1.5 defeat. Though the team was disappointed by the defeat, it can still take pride in finishing second in the nation overall.

Results:

Finals:
East had white on boards 1 and 3.

East 2.5 West 1.5
Charles Riordan (2276) 0 FM Patrick Hummel 1
Alex Cherniack (2252) 0.5 Eugene Yanayt (2312) 0.5
Lawyer Times (2174) 1 Zhihao (Howard) Liu (2043) 0
Charles Mays (2039) 1 Joshua Gutman (1993) 0

Semifinals:
West and South had white on boards 1 and 3.

West 2.5 Midwest 1.5
FM Patrick Hummel 1 FM Shivkumar Shivaji 0
Eugene Yanayt (2312) 1 John Langreck (2226) 0
Zhihao (Howard) Liu (2043) 0 FM Jim Dean 1
Joshua Gutman (1993) 0.5 Lee Kistler (1971) 0.5

South 1 East 3
GM Julio Becerra 0 Charles Riordan (2276) 1
Jorge Reynaldo (2091) 0 Alex Cherniack (2252) 1
Javier Gonzalez (2027) 1 Lawyer Times (2174) 0
Gil Luna (1961) 0 Charles Mays (2039) 1

Caltech Wins 2006 US Amateur Team West Chess Championship!

Teams from across the western United States gathered to compete in the 2006 US Amateur Team West Chess Championship in California. The event drew hundreds of players and forty-six strong teams, but it was Caltech that walked away with the title.

Teams consist of four chess players with an average rating below master level. Players are not allowed to help their teammates, but each game contributes to the result of the match equally. The tournament was played in six rounds of six-hour games over President’s day weekend. The winning team goes on to play against teams from the East, South, and Midwest for the national championship.

Caltech’s chess club is a thriving community where players of all skill levels are welcome. In addition to the team representing Caltech at Amateurs, the club boasts several other experts and strong players. Caltech players have done well at many strong tournaments, including twice beating MIT in internet chess matches.

Caltech’s team has dominated Amateurs in particular for the last four years. By winning the national championship in 2003 and 2004, Caltech became the first team to become national team champions twice in a row. The wins prompted LA Times chess columnist Jack Peters to write “Baseball fans scream about the New York Yankees, but chess players yearn to break up Caltech.” In 2005 he got his wish, as Caltech lost to IM Peters' USC team in the final round, finishing a disappointing third.

With their victory last President’s Day weekend, Caltech proved that they can still make history. The current team of Patrick Hummel, Eugene Yanayt, Zhihao (Howard) Liu, and Joshua Gutman, all seniors, was the favorite to take the championship. While the team was composed of the same members that represented Caltech last year, they had improved substantially, and were the highest rated team in the tournament.

The Caltech team more than lived up to expectations. In the first round, a pairing mistake resulted in Caltech being paired with one of the top teams in the tournament, yet the Techers still swept their opposition 4-0. Caltech also won their second match 2.5-1.5, good for a perfect 2-0 start on day one. In the third round, Caltech crushed the USC team which knocked them out of the running last year by a score of 3.5-0.5. With a 2.5-1.5 victory over another top team in round 4, the Techers had the only perfect 4-0 match score of all the teams in the tournament. In round 5, Caltech defeated Grandmaster Lombardy's second-ranked team 3-1, making their ultimate victory almost certain. In the final round, Caltech gave up their first 2-2 draw to clinch first place. They will represent the West for a third time in the National Championship.

In addition to its dominating team performance, Caltech's players had top performances as individuals. Both Yanayt and Gutman won individual prizes for best record on boards two and four, respectively. Hummel and Liu both won more games than they lost even though they faced extremely tough opposition. Liu faced a higher rated opponent almost every round, and Hummel constantly faced off against tough internationally ranked players, including GM Lombardy and IM Peters. Their collective performance was perhaps the best of any of the Caltech teams that have ever played in Amateurs.

Details from the tournament can be found here

Hummel Wins 2005 Caltech Blitz Chess Championship


                 Caltech Blitz Chess Championship
                         Friday May 20, 2005

 #	NAME		Rat. Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Pts. Brk.
--- ------------------- ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---- ----
 1. FM Patrick Hummel	2443 $10 $ 6 $ 2 $ 9 $ 8 W 3 11.0 34.0
 2. Eugene Yanayt	2275 $ 4 $ 8 L 1 $11 L 3 $ 7  8.0 38.0
 3. Michael Lucas	2100 W 5 D10 $13 W 7 $ 2 W 1  7.5 38.0
 4. Alexei Dvoretskii	unr. L 2 W 5 W10 $13 $11 W 6  7.0 32.0
 5. Marat Gataullin	unr. W 3 W 4 L11 F-- $ 9 W 8  7.0 31.5
 6. Zhihao Liu		2021 $12 L 1 # 7 L 8 F-- W 4  6.5 34.5
 7. Joshua Gutman	2028 $11 W 9 D 6 W 3 $10 L 2  6.5 33.5
 8. David Rocklin	1920 $13 L 2 W 9 $ 6 L 1 W 5  6.0 29.5
 9. Andrei Petcherski	1473 F-- W 7 W 8 L 1 L 5 $12  6.0 21.5
10. Nikita Panasenko	1818 L 1 # 3 W 4 $12 L 7 W11  5.5 30.0
11. El-Sayed Sallah	unr. L 7 $12 $ 5 L 2 L 4 W10  5.0 30.0
12. Wolfgang Treyer	unr. L 6 L11 F-- L10 $13 L 9  4.0 18.5
13. Alden Waters	unr. L 8 F-- L 3 L 4 L12 ---  2.0 17.0

Key: $ - 2   points
     # - 1.5 points
     W - 1   point
     D - 0.5 points
     L - 0   points
     F - 2   point bye

Tiebreak points awarded according to Modified Median system.

Caltech beats MIT in Second Internet Chess Match

On April 24, 2005, from 4-6:30 PM, the Caltech Chess Team defeated MIT's Chess Team in an 8-board match played on the Internet Chess Club. The win parallels Caltech's victory over MIT two years ago in a match of similar format. Team members played on the computers in the ITS Lab in 214 Steele, and many spectators came to watch the exciting games both on demo boards at the site and over the Internet. It looked bad for Caltech when MIT got off to a red hot start, quickly winning the first two games to finish. But solid performances on the remaining boards left MIT with no chance, as Caltech's Boston rival struggled to obtain 2 draws from the remaining 6 boards. The final results were:


MIT 3 Caltech 5
1. Arne Hessenbruch 0.5 Patrick Hummel 0.5
2. Sheel Dandekar 0 Eugene Yanayt 1
3. Bei Zeng 0 Karl Yee 1
4. Adrian Garcia 1 Zhihao (Howard) Liu 0
5. Bryant Vernon 1 Joshua Gutman 0
6. Rob Zamora 0 Edward Perepelitsky 1
7. Aleksandr Skorokhod 0.5 Phillip Perepelitsky 0.5
8. Meshat Farrokhzadi 0 David (Zeb) Rocklin 1

Caltech had black on all odd numbered boards. Games from the match can be found here.

Third Annual Prefrosh Simul

On April 16, 2005, from 3:30-5:30 PM, club president Patrick Hummel gave a simultaneous exhibition for prefrosh, playing a total of 30 games in the two hour period. Despite giving infinite passes and infinite take-backs upon request, as well as complying with some rather bizarre requests for his first move, he gave up only one draw, winning the other 29 games. There were a lot of spectators, and everyone at the simul had a good time.

Caltech Chess Team Third in 2005 US Amateur Team West Championship

The 2005 US Amateur Team West Championship was held from February 19-21. The team representing Caltech, juniors Patrick Hummel, Eugene Yanayt, Zhihao (Howard) Liu, and Joshua Gutman, played great chess for most of the event. After all but the last round, having already faced their highest rated opponents, the Caltech team was in clear first, and looking to win its third consecutive regional championship. But the Techers then lost their first match in 2.5 years and finished in a respectable, but disappointing third place.

Second Annual ISP Simul

On September 15, 2004 (International Students orientation), from 6:30-8:30 PM, Patrick Hummel gave a simultaneous exhibition for the new international students, playing a total of 25 games, and winning every one of them. The place was packed with spectators, and the event was a great success.

Hummel and Ma Win Second Annual Blitz Chess Championship 


                  Caltech Blitz Chess Championship
                         Friday May 7, 2004

 #	NAME		 Rat. Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Pts. Brk.
--- -------------------- ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---- ----
 1. FM Patrick Hummel	 2443 $13 $11 # 3 W 2 $ 4 $ 8 10.5 40.5
 2. FM Wei Ji Ma	 2347 $14 $ 6 $10 W 1 # 8 $ 5 10.5 38.0
 3. Eugene Yanayt	 2268 $17 $ 5 D 1 W 8 $10 $11  9.5 36.0
 4. Alexei Borodin	 unr. W 7 W14 $ 9 $ 6 L 1 $13  8.0 36.0
 5. Nikita Panasenko     1884 $18 L 3 $12 W10 $ 7 L 2  7.0 38.5
 6. Stuart Ward		 1906 $12 L 2 $16 L 4 $14 W10  7.0 35.0
 7. Joshua Gutman	 1713 W 4 W13 W18 $14 L 5 $15  7.0 30.0
 8. Edward Perepelitsky  1963 $15 W16 $11 W 3 D 2 L 1  6.5 41.5
 9. Jason Parker	 1454 F-- L10 L 4 W15 $17 #12  6.5 27.5
10. Philipp Perepelitsky 1943 $20 $ 9 L 2 W 5 L 3 W 6  6.0 40.5
11. Zhihao Liu		 1931 $21 L 1 L 8 $18 $13 L 3  6.0 34.5
12. Ross Goldberg	 764  L 6 $17 L 5 $19 W16 D 9  5.5 21.5
13. Laura Lindzey	 1579 L 1 W 7 $17 $16 L11 L 4  5.0 28.0
14. Andrei Petcherski	 1473 L 2 W 4 $19 L 7 L 6 $16  5.0 27.0
15. Mark Eichenlaub	 1099 L 8 X-- F-- W 9 $19 L 7  5.0 14.0
16. Martin Burgdorf	 1700 $19 W 8 L 6 L13 W12 L14  4.0 23.0
17. Tyson Mao		 1256 L 3 L12 L13 F-- L 9 W19  3.0 18.0
18. Steven Gao		 740  L 5 F-- W 7 L11 --- ---  3.0 13.0
19. Farhood Shooshani	 unr. L16 X-- L14 L12 L15 W17  1.0 17.0
20. Kevin Jang		 unr. L10 --- --- --- --- ---  0.0  0.0
21. Taeksoo Shim	 unr. L11 --- --- --- --- ---  0.0  0.0

Key: $ - 2   points
     # - 1.5 points
     W - 1   point
     D - 0.5 points
     L - 0   points
     F - 2   point bye
     X - 0   point bye

Tiebreak points awarded according to Modified Median system.

Second Annual Prefrosh Simul

On April 23, 2004 from 2:30-5 PM, club president Patrick Hummel gave a simultaneous exhibition for the club fair on prefrosh weekend, playing 38 different games, but no more than 20 at the same time. He won 37 games and drew one. There were many interesting games, as a whole slew of experts and A players showed up to make Patrick work hard for his results. There were nearly 100 spectators at some points.

U.S. Champions, again!

On March 20, the Caltech Chess Team beat top teams from around the country to win the 2004 U.S. Amateur Team Championships. The national championship was held on the Internet Chess Club. The win makes the Caltech Chess Team the first team ever to win America's most prestigious team chess championship twice in a row.

The winning team consisted of master players Patrick Hummel and Eugene Yanayt (both sophomores), Graham Free (senior), and Zhihao Liu (sophomore). In 2003, Yanayt, Free, and Liu teamed up with postdoctoral scholar and master player Wei Ji Ma to win the national Amateur Team Championships in the team's first year of competition. The Amateur Team Championships are open not only to college teams, but also to any other team of non-professional players.

The team earned the right to represent the west by demolishing tough competition at the western regional championship in February with a perfect 6-0 score. This win was reason for International Master Jack Peters to write in the Los Angeles Times, "Baseball fans scream about the New York Yankees, but chess players yearn to break up Caltech." (Feb 29)

The team then defeated the midwest regional winners in the national semifinals and followed that with a victory over the east regional winners in the championship match. The Caltech team trounced both the midwest and the east, beating each team by a convincing 3-1 margin. In the national championship, all individual team members went undefeated.

The Caltech Chess Team is composed of members of the Caltech Chess Club. The club welcomes players of all skill levels throughout the Caltech community. More information can be obtained by contacting Patrick Hummel at hummel@its.caltech.edu.

Results:

Semifinals:
South and West had white on boards 1 and 3.

West 3 Midwest 1
FM Patrick Hummel 0.5 Jason Doss (2332) 0.5
Eugene Yanayt (2204) 1 Nick Adams (2239) 0
Graham Free (2155) 1 Jim Dean (2227) 0
Zhihao (Howard) Liu (1915) 0.5 Garrett Smith (1956) 0.5

South 1 East 3
John Nardandrea (2234) 0 IM Stanislav Kriventsov 1
Peter Dyson (2205) 0 IM Dean Ippolito 1
Larry Storch (2200) 0 Michael Bernshtyen (2200) 1
Steve Chakis (2128) 1 Scott Lalli (1731) 0

Finals:
East had white on boards 1 and 3.

West 3 East 1
FM Patrick Hummel 1 IM Stanislav Kriventsov 0
Eugene Yanayt (2204) 0.5 IM Dean Ippolito 0.5
Graham Free (2155) 1 Michael Bernshtyen (2200) 0
Zhihao (Howard) Liu (1915) 0.5 Scott Lalli (1731) 0.5

Caltech Chess Team Wins 2004 US Amateur Team West Championship

Continuing its series of successes, the Caltech Chess Team has again defeated top-ranked teams to win the western regional US Amateur Team Chess Championship. The win represents the second time in the team's two year history that Caltech has won the event.

The winning team consisted of players Patrick Hummel '06 (captain), Eugene Yanayt '06, Graham Free '04, and Zhihao (Howard) Liu '06. The Caltech team dominated the event from start to finish, winning all six matches for a rare perfect score and a one and a half point margin of victory over the second place finisher.

The legendary US Amateur Team Championships are high-profile events and count as the most prestigious among amateur tournaments. They are open not only to college teams, but also to any team of four chess players.

By winning the tournament, the Caltech team has earned the right to represent the west in the national championship, to be held on March 20. There they will face the respective winners of the southern, midwestern, and eastern regional competitions in a knockout-style event to be held on the US Chess Federation's Internet server. A win would make the Caltech team the first team ever to win the national championship two years in a row.

For official results, visit the Southern California Chess Federation.

GSC Simul

On September 21, 2003 (Graduate Students orientation) from 7:30-9:30 PM, Sergiy Vasylkevych gave a simultaneous exhibition for the new graduate students on 19 boards. He won 18 games and lost one. There were several interesting games, and the event was a great success.

ISP Simul

On September 18, 2003 (Internation Students orientation week) from 6-9 PM, FIDE Master Wei Ji Ma gave a simultaneous exhibition in both regular chess and Chinese Chess (xiangqi) for the new international students, on 19 boards. He won all 14 regular chess games, and scored +1 =2 -2 in Chinese chess. There was a lot of interest.

Eugene Yanayt and Wei Ji Ma win Caltech Blitz Chess Championship 2003!

The first annual Caltech Blitz Chess Championship, held on May 9th 2003, was a great success, and all who attended enjoyed themselves. The tournament featured a strong turnout that included many graduate students and faculty members who were new to Caltech Chess. Tying for first with 10/12 were Eugene Yanayt and Wei Ji Ma, and coming in clear third with 9/12 was Patrick Hummel. Joshua Gutman and newcomer Joel Austin tied for top novice honors with the excellent score of 7/12. Pictures from the event:

Lloyd Kilford and Andrew Hsieh

Eugene Yanayt and Kevin Trotter

Adri van Duin and Prof. Alexei Borodin 

                 Caltech Blitz Chess Championship
                        Friday May 9, 2003
                      Page House Dining Hall
                        TD: Patrick Hummel

 #       NAME           Rat.  Rd1  Rd2  Rd3  Rd4  Rd5  Rd6  Pts.
--- ------------------  ----  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ----
 1. FM Wei Ji Ma        2361  $18  $14  W 2  $11  W 3  $ 5  10.0
 2. Eugene Yanayt       2159  $ 7  $12  W 1  W 3  $ 4  $ 8  10.0
 3. FM Patrick Hummel   2441  $15  $ 8  W 4  W 2  W 1  $10   9.0
 4. Sergiy Vasylkevych  2270  $19  $ 6  W 3  W 5  L 2  $12   8.0
 5. Graham Free         2113  W11  $20  W 8  W 4  $ 6  L 1   7.0
 6. Joshua Gutman       1475  $17  L 4  $13  $12  L 5  W11   7.0
 7. Joel Austin         unr.  L 2  #10  # 9  L 8  $12  $15   7.0
 8. Zhihao Liu          1893  $16  L 3  W 5  $ 7  #11  L 2   6.5
 9. Adri Van Duin       1800  W20  L11  D 7  W15  $17  $14   6.5
10. Tyson Mao           1256  L12  D 7  $19  $14  $16  L 3   6.5
11. Alexei Borodin      unr.  W 5  $ 9  $14  L 1  D 8  W 6   6.5
12. Kevin Trotter       unr.  $10  L 2  $16  L 6  $19  L 4   6.0
13. Maziar Motahari     unr.  L14  $18  L 6  W17  L 7  $19   5.0
14. Martin Burgdorf     1730  $13  L 1  L11  L10  $18  L 9   4.0
15. Lloyd Kilford       1200  L 3  L16  W17  W 9  BYE  L 7   4.0
16. Andrew Hsieh        unr.  L 8  $15  L12  $18  L10  ---   4.0
17. Graeme Smith        unr.  L 6  W19  W15  W13  L 9  W18   4.0
18. Mark Polinkovsky    780   L 1  L13  BYE  L16  L14  W17   3.0
19. Anura Abeyesinghe   unr.  L 4  W17  L10  BYE  L12  L13   3.0
20. Arash Kheradvar     unr.  W 9  L 5  ---  ---  ---  ---   1.0

Key: $ - 2   points
     # - 1.5 points
     W - 1   point
     D - 0.5 points
     L - 0   points

Prefrosh Simul

On April 25, 2003 (prefrosh weekend), 2-3:30, Club President and FIDE Master Patrick Hummel gave a simultaneous exhibition for prefrosh, on 24 boards. He won 23 games and drew one! There were a lot of spectators.

U.S. Champions!!

Continuing its series of successes, the Caltech chess team has won the prestigious national playoffs of the U.S. Amateur Team Championship 2003 (everyone, not only college teams) on March 15. The team consisted of Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (postdoc, board 1), Eugene Yanayt (freshman, board 2), Graham Free (junior, board 3), and Zhihao Liu (freshman, board 4). In tense battles, the team beat the winner of the Midwest regionals 3-1, and subsequently in the final the highly favorite team from the University of Texas at Dallas, the school which most actively recruits the nation's top high school chess players. The regular match (90 minutes per person per game) was tied, 2-2, after the situation had looked worse for a long time. Then the tiebreak (15 minutes per person per game) was tied too. Finally, in the second tiebreak (5 minutes per person per game) our team, "CALTECHnically Won" won by 2.5-1.5. The team members had almost identical individual scores. As the team has been formed only this year, along with the chess club, we are very happy about these results.
The rule for the Amateur Team Championship is that the average rating of the players cannot exceed 2200. The matches were played on US Chess Live. The Caltech team is probably the lowest rated team ever to win the Amateur Team Championships. 		     
     From left to right: Graham Free, Eugene Yanayt, Zhihao Liu, Wei Ji Ma

Results (all March 15, 2003):

Semifinals:
Our board 1 had Black, then alternating.

G/90 CALTECHnically Won (2070) 3 Carleton Knights (1885) 1

FM Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (2360) 0 Andy Lee (2202) 1

Eugene Yanayt (2149) 1 Dan Diskin (2000) 0

Graham Free (2036) 1 Taylor Curtis (1700) 0

Zhihao (Howard) Liu (1733) 1 Peter Newhall (1637) 0

Finals:
In the regular games, our board 1 had Black, then alternating. In the first tie-break, our board 1 had White, in the second Black again.

Regular: G/90 CALTECHnically Won (2070) 2 UT Dallas (2196) 2

FM Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (2360) 1 FM Andrei Zaremba (2393) 0

Eugene Yanayt (2149) 0 FM Dennis Rylander (2324) 1

Graham Free (2036) 1 Ali Morshedi (2156) 0

Zhihao (Howard) Liu (1733) 0 Clemente Rendon (1910) 1
Tiebreak: G/15 CALTECHnically Won (2070) 2 UT Dallas (2196) 2

FM Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (2360) 0.5 FM Andrei Zaremba (2393) 0.5

Eugene Yanayt (2149) 1 FM Dennis Rylander (2324) 0

Graham Free (2036) 0 Ali Morshedi (2156) 1

Zhihao (Howard) Liu (1733) 0.5 Clemente Rendon (1910) 0.5
Tiebreak: G/5 CALTECHnically Won (2070) 2.5 UT Dallas (2196) 1.5

FM Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (2360) 1 FM Andrei Zaremba (2393) 0

Eugene Yanayt (2149) 0 FM Dennis Rylander (2324) 1

Graham Free (2036) 0.5 Ali Morshedi (2156) 0.5

Zhihao (Howard) Liu (1733) 1 Clemente Rendon (1910) 0

Caltech beats MIT 5-3 in historic first-ever match

Caltech's newly formed chess team beat MIT 5-3 in their historic first-ever chess match of Sunday, March 2. The match took place on the Internet Chess Club, and attracted hundreds of spectators on-line. Every player had an hour to make all of his or her moves. On most boards the Caltech players, of whom two were masters, gained an advantage early in the match. Although when time ran short, some upsets happened, Caltech obtained a convincing victory. As MIT boasts one of the top few chess teams in the nation, the result shows that Caltech's fledgling team, which includes five freshmen (and a junior, a grad student, and a postdoc), will be a force to be reckoned with in future intercollegiate competitions. Both Caltech and MIT intend to make the match an annual event, and hope that it can encourage collegiate chess in general.

Individual results

(boldface 1 or 0 indicates that the player was White)


 MIT (2101) 3 Caltech (2063) 5
1. Tamer Karatekin (2254) 1 Patrick Hummel (2441) 0
2. Yelena Gorlin (2161) 0 Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (2355) 1
3. Elina Groberman (2129) 1 Sergiy Vasylkevich (----) 0
4. Sanne de Boer (2076) 0 Eugene Yanayt (2135) 1
5. Grady Cantrell (2074) 0 Graham Free (2083) 1
6. Sheel Dandekar (2000) 1 Zhihao Liu (1754) 0
7. David Gratton (2058) 0 Stuart Ward (1906) 1
8. Aleksandr Skorokhod (2053) 0 Clark Guo (1768) 1
 

The moves of all games are in the Games section, in case you want to examine them!

Match report

On eight computers in the Caltech computer lab, a historical match was fought between long-time rivals Caltech and MIT. Many people had been looking forward to the match, and on-line, hundreds of spectators gathered. At the playing site, we had about 20 spectators. Early in the match, most Caltech players got some advantage. Then, in a better position, our third board Sergiy overlooked a tactic by Elina Groberman, which cost him a rook. The first two points came in when Graham outplayed his opponent from the opening (a neat 26 moves), and Clark won two rooks in a tactical melee, although his opponent had a much higher rating (300 point difference); 2-0. Eugene won in a 4-rook ending in which he was a pawn up and his opponent was in time trouble. Sergiy indeed lost, 3-1. Wei Ji won a crucial pawn in a strategical battle, which led to a won endgame. Howard had defended himself well all game, but a few moves away from a draw he didn't pay enough attention to his clock, and was flagged; 4-2. Stuart brought in the winning point, 5-2. Patrick had obtained a great position from the opening, but a miscalculation turned the tables, and although he fought on for a long time (110 moves!) there was no way out; a good achievement by Tamar Karatekin. The final score was thus 5-3. Thanks to all who helped in making the match into a success (especially Josh, Dima, and Jason, who replayed all the moves on real boards for the spectators)!

Caltech Team Wins U.S. Team Championship West 2003

In a major upset, a Caltech chess team has defeated top-rated teams from all over the Western U.S. to win the first prize in the U.S. Amateur Team Championship West. The tournament, in which 42 teams participated, was held Feb 15-17 in Los Angeles; the average rating of each team had to be below 2200 (master).

The winning team, named "CALTECHnically won" and only ranked 11th on the basis of rating, consisted of Wei Ji (Whee Ky) Ma (postdoc, board 1, 2360), Eugene Yanayt (freshman, board 2, 2149), Graham Free (junior, board 3, 2036), and Zhihao (Howard) Liu (freshman, board 4, 1733). It was the first time ever that a Caltech team played in this event. The final team score was 5.5 points out of 6 matches.

Top scorers were Wei Ji and Howard, both with 5.5 out of 6. The national play-offs will be played March 15 on the Internet. The final standings and individual scores are here. The feature article in the Los Angeles Times is here.

Last Updated 6-9-2006
citchess@its.caltech.edu